I've always been really into names, but now that I'm actually responsible for naming a brand new person it's... a little overwhelming. I have this gigantic list and it's still growing (my husband, meanwhile, has contributed ONE name - the first one he saw when he cracked open the name book). As I start weeding out the ones that aren't quite right, it got me thinking about all the "almosts" out there for every kid. What names did you consider but end up not using? If you didn't know what you were having, what was your opposite sex alternate? What about for yourself - did your parents almost name you something else?

My name is Honora. I was named after my mom's grandmother and I don't think she considered any other options for a girl. If I'd been a boy I would have been Henry Mitchell.

I'm Andrea Lorraine. And my dad wanted to name me Adela, ha. I think my parents had more options, but I don't remember those right now.

_________________"I love you, but you need to get out of the kitchen before I spatula your face." -Pinko"You can always trade sex for cookies. It might make you feel dirty, but just keep your eyes closed and think of vanilla." -Tofulish

for some reason my parents thought i was going to be a boy, even though they never got an ultrasound. so, i was going to be named after my grandpa. they didn't have a girl name picked out, but while my mom was still in the hospital she dreamed about the song "Corrina, Corrina." so, that's my name.

i mostly love "old lady" sounding girl names and had a girl name list a mile long. this pregnancy i was pretty sure it'd be a margaux if it was a girl, but i'm having boy numba 2. i also love names like agatha, esther, and beatrix.

just like last time, it was really, REALLY hard for us to pick a boy name we both liked, and we both had pretty short boy name lists to begin with. on that short list were baxter, basil, toby, ulysses (probably our middle name) and the name we picked (which is already the name of a few ppkids. that feels weird, but since our children will probably never ever meet, and it's the only name we both loved, i gotta go with it).

_________________Gwyneth Paltrow: "I'm superstitious. Whenever I start a new movie I kill a hobo with a hammer."

I also love old man and old lady names. We could never agree on girls' names, so it's a good thing we're having a boy. For girls, I like Edith (Edie), Audrey, Lydia, and Millicent (Millie), and Roberta. For boys, I love Theodore (Dr. Suess! Theo Huxtable!), and Grover (my favorite muppet). We almost went with Arthur. The name we finally chose is my great-grandfather's name and my grandfather's middle name. It is nice and stately. You'll find out soon enough! :)

I am Mary, but I was almost Holly. I feel much more like a Mary, so good call, Mom. If I'd been a boy I would have been Thomas. I am so not a Tom!

My mum had me and my sister without knowing gender. She was 100% sure she was having girls both times and never entertained the thought of boy names at all. Also, my middle name was supposed to be my first name, as far as my mum was concerned, but my dad got to the registry office while she was still in the hospital with me and switched them. The cheek!

_________________#sexysocialism

"I will take a drugged, sex-crazed, punk rock commie over Mrs. Thatch any day of the week" - Vantine

my name is rachel. i was going to be brock if i was a boy. i don't think my mom seriously considered any other girls names.

i only had one name for each gender picked out this time. i had very definite favourites that i've been holding on to for a few years, so there were no questions. my husband almost didn't get a vote at all!

for a girl we chose tziporah graceour boy option was quentin amir

next time, quentin and amir are contenders again, although with the rising popularity of quinn, i'm not so sure about quentin any more. for another girl, i LOVE lydia, don't have any second names though.

My name is Jennifer - my mom was wanting to name me either Katrinka or Bo (I was born on 10/10 at 10:10). My dad stayed silent on the matter until my mom was completely drugged up waiting for the labor to start, and they were watching Hart to Hart in their hospital room. My mom made the offhand comment that Jennifer was a pretty name, and my dad quickly signed the birth certificate. She thanked him many years later.

for jackson, we were always set on that name, we just knew he was a jackson.for olivia, i wanted sabrina and tony wanted sophia, and then we came up with something we could compromise on.my dad wanted to name me erin, but my mom insisted on sara. i'm glad -- i don't think i'm an erin.

My name is Rebecca. My mother wanted to call me Mariah, my dad was set on Anastasia. They saw the Alfred Hitchcock movie Rebecca shortly before I was born and were able to compromise on that. I'm glad I didn't end up a Mariah.

Nathan Ezra was our choice for a boy. I also really liked Steven(I've known a lot of good Steves in my life), Daniel, and Vergil.Willow was almost Marillya. Fortunately I came to my senses and decided not to saddle her with a four-syllable first name when she was already getting a five-syllable last name.

I'm Carrie, which was on a list of Little House on the Prairie-sounding names my folks put together. If I was a boy I would have been David.

Years before Henry was a even a glimmer of an idea I had one of those very vivid thoughts out of the blue, "Someday I will have a little boy named Henry." His middle name is Elias, also my brother's middle name and a family name. If he was a girl he would have been Frances Josephine, after Bread and Jam for Frances and my husband's grandma.

If we someday have another baby I'm thinking Agnes (because I loved The Beaches of Agnes so much) or Jasper (just sounds good with our last name).

we didn't really debate it, so there was no alternate name for zelda -- it was always griselda frances. we had similarly little discussion over the boy's name, which was jacoby francis from the start. if we do have a boy now, jacoby is highly unlikely to be used.

I've always been really into names, but now that I'm actually responsible for naming a brand new person it's... a little overwhelming. I have this gigantic list and it's still growing (my husband, meanwhile, has contributed ONE name - the first one he saw when he cracked open the name book).

Ha. The Emperor's name is one of only TWO boy names that my husband would okay... and we literally sat down with a baby book and went A to Z looking for anything he might be okay with. And the Emperor's name (Grey) wasn't even one we noticed when going through the book.

For the record, the other guy name that my husband liked was Asher. One of my best friends has Asher as a middle name, but his aunt also has a cat named Asher (after him!) and when I think that name... well, I think of Asher the cat. A very lovable and wonderful cat, but not someone I want to name my baby after.

My dad really wanted to name me Galadriel. My mom wanted to name me Danielle. They both vetoed each other.